The past 12 months have seen a number of important developments in immigration law.

This course will provide a comprehensive update of the key changes and will address the important issues facing practitioners working in this area answering questions such as:

What is the impact of recent statutory changes?

What are the most important case law developments over the last year?

What is the current state of the law?

Delegates will receive an essential update of case law, statute, rules and policy equipping them with an overview of the latest developments ensuring up to date advice can be provided to clients. This course will also briefly cover the new appeal regime for students and foreign criminals.

Adam Pipe, barrister at No 8 Chambers, picks out the key cases from mid-July to December 2015 for immigration lawyers, and why they are of interest. The review covers Supreme Court decisions, judicial review highlights, and other cases in the areas of article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), refugee/protection claims, EU/EEA law, practice and procedure, deportation and nationality (including one earlier case from June 2015).

For the Applicant: Ms E Rutherford instructed by Cartwright King Solicitors

For the Respondent: Mr V Mandalia, instructed by the Government Legal Department

It is not necessary for an individual to have "parental responsibility" in law for there to exist a parental relationship.

Whether a person who is not a biological parent is in a "parental relationship" with a child for the purposes of s.117B(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 depends on the individual circumstances and whether the role that individual plays establishes he or she has "stepped into the shoes" of a parent.

Applying that approach, apart from the situation of split families where relationships between parents have broken down and an actual or de facto step-parent exists, it will be unusual, but not impossible, for more than 2 individuals to have a "parental relationship" with a child. However, the relationships between a child and professional or voluntary carers or family friends are not "parental relationships".